Damsgaard T E, Olesen A B, Sørensen F B, Thestrup-Pedersen K, Schiøtz P O
Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Arch Dermatol Res. 1997 Apr;289(5):256-60. doi: 10.1007/s004030050189.
Stereological quantification of mast cell numbers was applied to sections of punch biopsies from lesional and nonlesional skin of atopic dermatitis patients and skin of healthy volunteers. We also investigated whether the method of staining and/or the fixative influenced the results of the determination of the mast cell profile numbers. The punch biopsies were taken from the same four locations in both atopic dermatitis patients and normal individuals. The locations were the scalp, neck and flexure of the elbow (lesional skin), and nates (nonlesional skin). Clinical scoring was carried out at the site of each biopsy. After fixation and plastic embedding, the biopsies were cut into 2 microns serial sections. Ten sections, 30 microns apart, from each biopsy were examined and stained alternately with either toluidine blue or Giemsa stain and mast cell profile numbers were determined. The study yielded the following results: (1) in atopic dermatitis lesional skin an increased number of mast cell profiles was found as compared with nonlesional skin, (2) comparing atopic dermatitis skin with normal skin, a significantly increased number of mast cell profiles per millimetre squared was found in specimens from the neck, (3) staining with toluidine blue yielded a lower number of mast cell profiles than Giemsa staining, (4) the use of Carnoy's fixative resulted in a lower mast cell profile count than the use of formaldehyde, and (5) there was no statistically significant correlation between the clinical score and the number of mast cell profiles per millimetre squared. Using stereological techniques, this study indicated that mast cells might participate in the inflammatory process in skin leading to atopic dermatitis.
对特应性皮炎患者皮损和非皮损皮肤以及健康志愿者皮肤的打孔活检切片进行肥大细胞数量的体视学定量分析。我们还研究了染色方法和/或固定剂是否会影响肥大细胞轮廓数量的测定结果。在特应性皮炎患者和正常个体的相同四个部位进行打孔活检。这些部位分别是头皮、颈部和肘部屈侧（皮损皮肤）以及臀部（非皮损皮肤）。在每个活检部位进行临床评分。固定并包埋于塑料后，将活检组织切成2微米的连续切片。从每个活检组织中选取间隔30微米的10个切片进行检查，并用甲苯胺蓝或吉姆萨染色交替染色，然后确定肥大细胞轮廓数量。研究得出以下结果：（1）与非皮损皮肤相比，特应性皮炎皮损皮肤中肥大细胞轮廓数量增加；（2）将特应性皮炎皮肤与正常皮肤进行比较，发现颈部标本每平方毫米的肥大细胞轮廓数量显著增加；（3）甲苯胺蓝染色得到的肥大细胞轮廓数量低于吉姆萨染色；（4）使用卡诺固定剂导致的肥大细胞轮廓计数低于使用甲醛；（5）临床评分与每平方毫米肥大细胞轮廓数量之间无统计学显著相关性。本研究使用体视学技术表明，肥大细胞可能参与导致特应性皮炎的皮肤炎症过程。
